2010: “Year of the Wake-Up Call”

Watch for a million different forms of unrest in a million different places, and all over the planet, some of it decidedly ugly. A lot of people stand to lose a lot of what they have long been led to believe is rightfully theirs, and they’re not all going to take it lying down. Not anymore.

“you better get your butts out there and understand it’s a fight! And you better be willing to fight for this country!”

— Congressional candidate Lieutenant Colonel West speaking at the American Freedom tour in Fort Lauderdale Florida at the Revolution Nightclub, 2009.

.

As another example, consider the current blockbuster movie, Avatar:

As the end-credits rolled for James Cameron’s new movie, Avatar, the audience burst into rowdy applause. . . . they had just watched the US suffer a humiliating defeat on a distant planet. In the final frames, American soldiers and the corporate executives they had failed to protect were shown lined up as prisoners-of-war about to embark on a death march.

More to the point, the depiction of our national character through the whole course of the film was of a thuggish, cruel, cynical, stupid, detestable, and totally corrupt people. . . . What is most amazing about Mr. Cameron’s holiday blockbuster is the explicit message that America is a society that deserves to be punished (and humiliated!) by others who manage their own relations with reality better than we do. (Source)